Yessir, after years in the gestation, thousands of words flowing under the bridge, there's a plan to save America. "A plan to save America? Are you out of your mind, Fred? How can you save America?”

Patience my friends. You’ll see.

But first, an IQ test, sorta like we do down at RWVA, using the AQT to sort out the cooks from the riflemen - only this time, to see if you are a Doofus Americanus. In which case you have a choice: change/improve yourself or stubbornly remain a doofus. If the latter, there is no point in you wasting your time here — better find another site on the net, one where you don't have to worrying about being thoughtful...or being part of that great American tradition - being "the best you can be..."

True or false:

The Founding Fathers of America sacrificed and died so we would not have to drink tea.

I will be a great shot as soon as I find a good rifle and scope, and work up a good load.

I will be a great shot as soon as I have time like Fred to get to the range every day and fire 5000 rounds, but right now I’m working like a dog to support my family, and my family comes first.

I don’t have to worry about things, there are people working behind the scenes to get this country back on track.

It will never happen here.

Unless I live in New York, Chicago, or parts of California; I really don't have to worry about losing my 2nd Amendment rights.

There’s no way they’ll ever get my gun, because I’ve got the perfect hiding spot for it.

Ten points every time you said “False”.

100 points: Good man, add a little shooting skill, and you can be a rifleman.

90: You can be fooled, but not often. Get to the range, and learn to shoot.

80: Gettin’ near the edge. Time to wake up, get to the range, learn to shoot.

70 or below: Man, you are in need of a MAJOR wakeup. Keep reading. And get to the range or to an Appleseed, your only salvation is learning to shoot, and learning what it means to being an American.

30 or under: Real 100% Doofus Americanus — bet it was the one on The Founding Fathers that tripped you up, right? That’s a hard one, sure — time to either 'fess up and straighten up - or move on.

Note: The best thing in all the above, is to get yourself to an Appleseed. (See below)

Now, the rest of you, ready to proceed? Let’s go!

A LITTLE SEED MAKES A BIG TREE

What’s exciting about a little seed making a big tree? Simply this: Plant enough apple seeds, and you soon have a land filled with apple trees. Johnny Appleseed, an early American hero, knew this fact, and believed in it enough to devote his life to it.

So just call me Freddy Appleseed.

When those seeds germinate into riflemen, and their efforts bear forth as fruit other riflemen, we soon have a Nation of Riflemen. The logic of it is inescapable. All you gotta do is plant some seeds. So, why don’t we? Might be f-u-n.

“Fun?” You telling me, Fred, saving America, is fun?

Yes sir, and it doesn’t get better. Save America, and have fun doing it. Doesn’t seem fair, does it? That this world, with all its crazy rules, rules that usually leave you hanging high, can deal you such a sweet hand - but I believe, in this instance, it has. Save America, by learning to shoot, then getting others to shoot (you enthusiasts don’t have to wait, get your friends learning — as you learn!).

Project Appleseed, as we call it, is to help you out. To make it even easier. To provide a source of information, inspiration, motivation, and simple determination. Check out www.rwva.org to find the location of the nearest Appleseed to you.

Project Appleseed is simple: you come to a weekend Appleseed to learn rifle marksmanship. You bring evey friend, every relative, every neighbor, every co-worker you can. While you are learning the skills necessary to shoot a rifle, you hear the story of the Founding - of the first day of the Rev War - April 19th, 1775, "the Day Marksmanship met History, and the Heritage was born..."

Once you become a rifleman, you don the RWVA "Instructor" cap, and become a Teacher of Riflemen.

In three years plus, we've already welcomed the 10,000th Appleseeder to an Appleseed. Our goal is 100,000 by 2012; 1,000,000 by 2016. The only way we make those goals is for you to pitch in and help us bail the ship.

We'll teach you to shoot, then we'll teach you to teach.

Soon you'll be teaching hundreds of people a year to shoot a rifle - and telling them the Story of April 19th, 1775. My friend, you'll no longer be "like everyone else" - this is not uselessly talking about how bad things are, but doing something about it, something that will make a difference.

Don't like public speaking? Don't know the Story?

No problem. Becoming an instructor is like becoming a rifleman. It takes time, and persistence. But just like every American can become a rifleman, every rifleman is competent to pass those skills on to others. So don't worry about it, you can do it - and you'll be a better person for it. A more worthy person. Even an important person. After all, you're saving a country. How important is that?

Take it one step at a time, and simply persist in taking steps, and you'll be there in no time.

First, come to an Appleseed, bringing others with you - as many as possible.

Second, work on polishing those skills you'll learn at Appleseed until you can shoot qualifying rifleman scores.

Then come to an Appleseed and tell the RWVA instructor you want to become like him.

That's all there is to it. (Well, there's a few weekends of training, and all - but when you aim to be the best rifle marksmanship instructor on the planet, you have to expect that, right?)

So let’s start planting seeds. And start with YOU, as the first one. The first step:

TAKE THE PLEDGE

Now everyone is gonna wanna be a Freddy Appleseed, and you can’t blame ‘em. Welcome aboard, I say. But an important task like saving America shouldn’t be expected to proceed without some formality. It is, after all, an important task: we need you to sign up for the duration, not for the moment. So here’s what you do. Pledge the following, to yourself (who better?):

Starting this minute, I pledge to reach down deep inside myself and wake up that sleeping American, the Rifleman.

I pledge to get my sleeping American to the range, so he can learn to shoot.

I pledge I will reach out to my friend, my coworker, my relative, my neighbor, to wake up their sleeping American.

I pledge I will do whatever it takes to help my friends, my coworkers, my relatives learn to shoot as Riflemen, to preserve our tradition of marksmanship for future generations.

I pledge as a rifleman to get active in passing the great American tradition of the rifleman on to others.

I pledge to persist, to not give up, to be in this for the duration, to adopt as my motto “Never Give Up!”

I pledge to plant seeds of marksmanship and the heritage of the Founders whenever and wherever I can, understanding I may never know the results. (Best way to do this: persist until you become a rifleman, then sign on as an RWVA Appleseed Instructor.)

I pledge to form a rifleman club and to build a range, if necessary.

I pledge that I understand I cannot do it all myself, nice as that would be, but that I will need help, and I will get that help by enlisting others to help bail the sinking ship. To make them understand, we all have to pick up a bucket, if we want to save the ship.

I pledge to recruit whenever and wherever I can, understanding some will be better as shooters, some better as recruiters, some as teachers, some as fund-raisers. But that all should have the goal of becoming riflemen, and then teaching others how to become riflemen.

I pledge I will PERSIST. [So important, you need to pledge it twice.]

This pledge given voluntarily on this ___________ day of ___________________, 20___ and if I fail to live up to it, I understand I can lose my firearms, my freedom, and my country. And that no true American will be willing to see that happen. So help me God.

/s/________________________________________ (American Patriot)

OK, so you pledge to go to the range and have fun shooting, get your friends into shooting with you, which is even more fun, vote, ‘one minute letter’ your reps, take advantage of the talents of others to help win the goal, help form a club if needed, and maybe a range. Along the way, you not only become a rifleman, you soon start teaching others to be riflemen. How sweet is that? Believe me, offer this deal to the boys back in 1775 and there’d be no hesitation. Hm-m-m-m-h, let’s see, an 8-yr bloody war, home burned, sleep out in the rain and mud, lose 50-60 pounds on bad rations (OK, this one is good, right?), watch your friends die of “fever” and British ball and bayonet - or go to the range, and shoot with some friends?

Now, let’s look at this project from a different point of view:
We’re not asking you for any money. Keep that thirty-five bucks a year that might be dues, and put it into shooting. We are not asking for your name, or you to go on a list - anxious as most freedom-loving Americans are to be defiantly on that list.

All we want is your commitment.

Your resolve, the resolve to carry out your part of the program. To learn to shoot, to shoot with friends, to make more friends — all of them awakened Americans — can you get better friends? Vote and write a few ‘one-minute’ letters to reps (this prob the only ‘onerous’ part), maybe form a club and get a range going. And to persist. To persist in not only becoming a rifleman, but in passing the heritage and the skill on to others. To persist until the end of your life. So you can look back, on your lonely deathbed, and take as one bright ray in your life your faithfulness. To the cause of Liberty. So your last breath can whisper “Semper fidelis...”

You are right: Fred cannot save America.

But this plan can.

But only if you ‘take the pledge’. It costs nothing, unless you chip in for a range. Most of it is fun. Can you do it? If you do it, we will save America. If you don’t do it, we won’t.

The Founders of the Nation are watching.....will they be disappointed by your decision?

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